Record players

ABSTRACT

An automatic record player for playing disc records of different sizes including an automatic mechanism for raising and lowering the pick-up arm and pivoting the pick-up arm inwardly and outwardly of the turntable which mechanism includes a drive gear and means for rotating the drive gear during a record changing cycle, a drive lever connected between the drive gear and a vertical spindle upon which the pick-up arm is carried to pivot pick-up arm inwardly and outwardly of the turntable, a drive link, separate from the drive lever and pivotally connected to an eccentric on the drive gear and slidably mounted adjacent its other end on the deck plate of the record player and adapted to raise and lower the pick-up arm and to move a selector latch into and out of position for engagement with a selector plate provided on the vertical spindle to determine the position of arrest of inward movement of the pick-up arm by the drive lever.

United States Patent 1 Evans 1 RECORD PLAYERS [75] Inventor: PhilipHenry Evans, Wollaston,

Stourbridge, England [73] Assignee: Glenhurn Engineering Limited,

Hamilton, Bermuda 22 Filed: Dec. 4, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 311,636

[30] Foreign Application'Priority Data Dec. 4, 1971 Great Britain56409/71 [52] US. Cl 274/10 R [51] Int. Cl. Gllb 17/16 [58] Field ofSearch 274/10 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,197,2127/1965 DeWeese 274/10 R- 3394.938 7/1968 Reed et al 274/10 R 1 Nov. 12,1974 Primary Eraminw-Louis R. Prince Assistant E.\'anzim'rStevcn L.Stephan Attorney, Agent, or FirmHo1man & Stern ABSTRACT An automaticrecord player for playing disc records of different sizes including anautomatic mechanism for raising and lowering the pick-up armand pivotingthe pick-up arm inwardly and outwardly of the turntable which mechanismincludes a-drivc gear and means for rotating the drive gear during arecord changing cycle, a drive lever connected between the drive gearand a vertical spindle upon which the pick-uparm is carried 14 Claims,11 Drawing Figures PATENTED NOV 1 2 I974 SHEET 3 OF 9 FATENTEDHBY 12 m43.847L401 SHEET 5 BF 9 PATENTED 12 I974 sum 6 or 9 SHEET 70F 9 PATENTEDNov 12 m4 saw a or 9 I PATENTED nnv 12 m4 RECORD PLAYERS BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to anautomatic record player for playing disc records of different sizes ofthe type comprising a deck plate, a turntable rotatably mounted on plateand driven, in use, by an electric motor, a centre spindle extendingupwardly from the centre of the turntable and from which records are fedsingly in succession from the bottom of the stack on to the turntable, apick-up arm, pivotally mounted for movement about a horizontal axis onthe upper end of a vertical spindle, the vertical spindle beingpivotally mounted for movement about a vertical axis relative to thedeck plate, a selector plate provided on the vertical spindle forrotation therewith, the selector plate having a plurality of abutmentedges angularly spaced apart around the axis of the vertical spindle andat different radial distances thereform, a selector latch movable from afirst position in which free movement of the selector plate is permittedinto a second position for engagement with a desired one of the abutmentedges to limit pivotal movement of the selector plate, the position ofthe selector latch being adjustable so that it is in a position toengage the appropriate one of the abutment edges corresponding to thesize of record to be played and to thus halt the inward movement of thepick-up arm in the correct position for the size of record to be played,a drive gear rotatably mounted on the deck plate, and means for rotatingthe drive gear during a record changing cycle.

In such a known apparatus, there is automatic mechanism, driven from thedrive gear, which, after playing 7 each record, causes a cycle ofoperations to take place, which includes pivoting the pick-up arm aboutsaid horizontal axis to raise the pick-up arm to disengage the pick-upfrom the record player, then pivoting the vertical spindle to swing thepick-up arm outwardly to a position clear of the path of downwardmovement of the record, then releasing the lowermost record from thestack to drop into the turntable then pivoting the vertical spindleabout said vertical axis to swing the pick-up arm inwardly to positionthe pick-up over the edge of the record to be played and then pivotingthe pick-up arm to engage the pick-up with the record.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide a new and improved record player of the type specified.

According to the present invention we provide an automatic record playerof the type specified, including,

a drive link, one end of the drive link being pivotallyv connected tothe drive gear about an axis spaced from, and parallel to, the axis ofrotation of the drive gear, the other end of the drive link beingmounted on the deck plate for sliding movement relative thereto and forpivotal movement about an axis spaced from, and parallel to, the axis ofrotation of the drive gear, the drive link being operative to raise andlower the pick-up arm on movement of the drive link resulting fromrotation of the drive gear, selector latch drive means being provided onthe drive link to move the selector latch between said first and secondpositions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will now be described inmore detail by way of example with reference to the accompanyingdrawings wherein,

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a record player embodying the invention,showing the record player at the end of playing a record,

FIG. 2 is an underneath plan view of the record player of FIG. 1,showing the record player in the same position as in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an underneath plan view, to an enlarged scale, of part of therecord player of FIG. 1 and showing the record player at the end of afirst stage of a record changing cycle of operations,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3 showing the record player atthe end of a second stage of the record changing cycle,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, showing the record player atthe end of a third stage of the record changing cycle,

FIG. 6 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, showing the record player atthe end of afourth stage of the record changing cycle,

FIG. 7 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, showing the record player atthe end of a fifth stage of the record changing cycle,

FIG. 8 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, showing the record playerjust after the end of the third stage of the cycle, but during aswitch-off cycle of operations,

FIG. 9 is a view simiilar to that of FIG. 3, showing the record playerduring a sixth stage of the cycle but during a switch off cycle ofoperations,

FIG. '10 is a fragmentary cross-section view showing part of the recordplayer during the first part of the cycle, and,

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cross-section view showing part of the recordplayer at a later stage during the first part of the cycle.

Referring to the Figures, a record player is indicated generally at 10and comprises a deck plate 11 having a circular well 12 formed thereinwithin which a turnta? ble 13 is rotatably mounted about a vertical axis14 and driven by means of an electric motor 15 in conventional manner bymeans of a jockey pulley l6'inter-' posed between the rim 17 of theturntable and a' stepped spindle not shown, of the motor 15.

Record speed change means 18 are provided to permit the speed ofrotation of the turntable tobe adjusted to any one of the usual threedesired speeds, namely 78 r.p.m., 45 r.p.m. and 33 /3 r.p.m. Therecordspeed change mechanism 18 comprises a hand engageable member 19connected to a rotary cam member 20 which engage one end 21 of atwo'armed lever 22. pivotally and slidably mounted on the deck plate'11,

as indicated at 23. The other end 24 of the lever 23 carries the jockeypulley 16.

As the hand engageable member 19 is rotated the i- I cam member 20causes the two-armed lever 22 to be moved vertically up and down so thatthe jockey pulley 16 can be engaged with a desired one of the stepsonthe stepped motor spindle. Inaddition, as the two- 3 A sub-plate ismounted beneath the deck plate 11 and a centre spindle 26 ofconventional form is provided in the centre of the turntable 13 tosupport a stack of records thereon in conventional manner. The centrespindle 26 has the ususal rocking lever and ledge to enable a singlerecord to be dropped from the bottom of the stack of records onto theturntable 13 or onto the top of a record already on the turntable.

The deck plate 1 1 is provided with a manually operable on/off lever 27and a manually operable record size selector lever 28. A pick-up arm 29carrying a pick-up head 30 is pivotally mounted on the upper end of avertical spindle 31 for up and down movement about a horizontal axis andthe vertical spindle 31 is mounted on the deck plate 11 for movementabout a vertical axis to allow swinging movement of the pick-up arm 29inwardly and outwardly of the turntable 13. In addition, a recordcontrol arm 32 is pivotally and slidably mounted on the deck plate 11 inconventional manner by means of a spindle 33, the lower end of which isengaged in an aperture in the subplate 25, and the upper end of which isjournalled in a bearing provided on a boss 34 upstanding from the deckplate. The spindle 33 carries a radial projection on the part of thespindle 33 which extends between the deck plate 11 and the sub-plate 25.Engaged around the spindle 33 between the projection 35 and the upperend of the boss 34 is a coil compression spring which urges the spindle33, and hence the record control arm 32, downwardly to supplement theeffect of gravity thereon.

The radial projection 35 of the spindle 33 is arranged to engage a lever36 mounted, adjacent its mid-point, on the upper side of the sub-plate11 by means of a headed tag 37 pushed out of the sub-plate, and therebeing a coil compression spring 38 engaged between the sub-plate and theunderside of the lever. A further coil compression spring 39 is engagedbetween the subplate and the end of the lever 36 engaged by theprojection 35. The opposite end of the lever 36 to that engaged by theprojection 35 is engaged with one end of a trip latch pin 40 whichextends through the sub-plate 25 and the opposite end of which has anenlarged head 41 disposed on the underside of the sub-plate 11. When thecontrol arm 32, and hence the projection 35, moves downwardly the lever36 is caused to pivot about its mounting on the sub-plate so that saidopposite end thereof moves upwardly to permit the strip latch to moveupwardly. The coil compression spring 38 permits movement of the lever36 away from the head of the tag 37 when pivotal movement of the lever36 is completed, but downward movement of the spindle 33 continues.

A pick-up arm raising spindle 42 is mounted in an aperture in thesub-plate 25 and in a boss, not shown, on the deck plate for sliding upand down movement in a vertical direction. The upper end of the spindle42 engages a portion 29a of the pick-up arm 29 so that the pick-up armis pivoted up and down about its horizon? tal axis in accordance with upand down movement of the spindle 42.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, the turntable 13 has apinion 43 formed integrally therewith, and surrounding the centrespindle 26, and adapted to engage with gear teeth, not shown, providedon a drive gear 45 rotatably mounted on the sub-plate 25. The drive gear45 has a number of teeth omitted and is provided with a pawl mechanismof conventional form so that when a record changing cycle of operationsis desired the pawl is moved into position for engagement by a dog, notshown, provided on the turntable beneath the pinion 43 to initiaterotation of the drive gear 45 and engage the teeth thereon with thepinion 43. When the drive gear has been rotated through a singlerevolution the gap in the teeth is again aligned with the pinion and thepawl mechanism has been moved out of position for engagement with thedog and hence the drive gear is rotated through only a singlerevolution.

The drive gear 45, which is made as a die casting, has formed integrallytherewith a radially outwardly facing cam surface 47 and a drive pillar48 which may be provided with a roller 49 is engaged with the camsurface 47. The cam surface 47 is provided with a recess 50 to act inco-operation with the roller 49 to locate the drive gear in its at restposition, shown in FIG. 2, in which the gap in the teeth is aligned withthe pinion 43;

The drive pillar 48 is carried on a drive lever 51 which is mounted onthe underside of the sub-plate 25 by means of a downwardly extendingpivot post 52 fixed to the sub-plate 25 and which is engaged with atransversely extending slot 53 formed in the drive lever 51. A coilcompression spring 54 is engaged between a down-turned lug 55 on thelever 51 and an aperture 56 is provided in the sub-plate 25, inaddition, an overload spring 57 in the form of a two-armed wire isengaged with the lever 51, one arm 58 thereof extending betweendownwardly extending lugs 59 and 60 on the level 51. The other arm 61extends from the lug 59 to engage the pivot post 52 whilst the free endof the arm.

61 is engaged in a horizontal slot in a lug 62 on the lever 51 toprevent movement of the spring 57 in a direction normal to the plane ofthe lever 51 whilst permitting movement of the arm 61 in a planeparallel thereto.

The coil compression spring 54 is provided to rotate the drive lever 51about the pivot post 52 to provide a drive to the record player pick-uparm in a direction inwardly of the record, as hereinafter to bedescribed, whilst the spring 57 provides an overload arrangement if thepick-up arm is moved forcibly outwardly.

The end of the lever 51 remote from the pillar 48 is bifurcated toprovide a fork having two limbs 63 and 64 between which is engaged aselector plate drive peg 65 depending downwardly from a selector plate66.

The selector plate 66 is fixed to the pick-up arm vertical spindle 31and is of generally conventional form, having three abutment surfaces 67which are spaced angularly about the axis of pivot of the verticalspindle 31 and are spaced at different radial distances therefrom. Apart annular slot 68 is formed in the selector plate 66 to accommodatethe pick-up arm raising spindle 42 and a coil compression spring, notshown, is engaged around the spindle 42 above a circlip, not shown, toact on the selector plate 66 through a washer 71 when the spindle 42 israised as described hereinafter.

A wire 72 is pivotally connected at one end 73 to a downwardly extendingpin 74 of the selector plate 66 whilst the other end of the wire 72extends through an aperture formed in a lug 76 in the sub-plate 25 sothat the wire 72 is guided for sliding movement in its longitudinaldirection. The end 77 of the wire 72 is positioned adjacent to theperiphery of the drive gear 45 for engagement with the pawl mechanismthereof, as will hereinafter be described.

Also positioned adjacent the periphery of the drive gear to operate onthe pawl mechanism thereof is an end portion 78 of one arm 88 of atwo-armed cut-off lever 79 pivoted adjacent its mid-point on a pin 80extending downwardly from the sub-plate 25 and engaged in a slot 81formed in the lever 79 and retained in position thereon by means of acirclip 82. A coil tension spring 83 extends between a lug 84 on thecut-off lever 79 and a lug 85 provided on the sub-plate 25.

An indent part 86 is formed in one edge of the lever 79 for engagementwith a pin 87 depending downwardly from'the sub-plate 2S and the spring83 urges the lever 79 in the direction to engage theedge thereofcontaining the indent part 86 with the pin 87. The other arm 89 of thelever 79 is provided with a slot 90 in which is engaged an end part 91a,of a link 91, depending downwardly through a switch slide 92, whichitself has a longitudinal extending slot 93 in which is engaged a pin 94depending downwardly from the deck plate. A

coil tension spring 95 extends between the slide 92 and a lug 96depending downwardly from the deck plate. A cam surface 97 is providedon the switch slide 92 to engage the operating member 98 of an electricon/of switch 99. I

The other end of the slide 92 is pivotally connected to a switch-offlever 100 which is pivotally mounted on the deck plate adjacent itsmid-point by a pivot pin 101. The opposite end of the switch-off lever100 has an inclined slot 102 formed therein in which is engaged a pin103 fixed to an on/of reject plate 104 pivotally mounted on the deckplate and having the hereinbefore mentioned on/of lever 27 mountedthereon on the top side of the deck' plate 11'.

The switch-off lever 100 has a cam track 105 provided thereon with whichis engaged the lower end 106 of a pick-up arm rest clamp lever 107.

The drive gear 45 carries a pin 110 whichpivotally connects one end of adrive link 111 thereto. At its other end the drive link 11] is providedwith a longitudinally extending slot 112 within which a selector controlpivot post 113 is received.

The link 11 is made as a moulding in a suitable synthetic plasticsmaterial and has formed integrally therewith a pair of lugs 114 and 115spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the link. The lugs 114 and115 are provided to alternately engage with a pin 116 moulded integrallywith a selector latch drive moulding 117 also made of synthetic plasticsmaterial and rotatably mounted on the post 113. A coil tension spring118 is connected between a part 119' of the selector drive latchmoulding and a lug 120 formed integrally on a selector latch 121 whichis also mounted for pivotal movement about the post 113, and which isprovided with a lug 122 for engagement with one of the abutment surfaces67 of the selector plate 66, as hereinafter to be described in moredetail. The selector latch 121 has an abutment 123 for engagement withthe part 119 of the selector latch drive moulding 117.

The underside of the portion of the drive link 111 adjacent the selectorcontrol pivot post 113 is provided with a pair of longitudinallyextending ramp surfaces 124 which are inclined upwards to-diminish inheight towards the free end of the drive link 111. The ramp surfaces 124have engaged therebetween a shouldered bush 125 on the postll3 wherebythe shoulder of the bush 125 lies under the ramp surfaces 124. The shouldered portion lies above a transfer lever 126 which is pivoted adjacentits midpoint on a post 127 depending downwardly from the sub-plate 25,there being a coil compression spring 128 engaged around the post 127beneath the lever 126 and'retained thereon by means of a circlip 129.The end 130 of the lever 126 remote from the post 117 is adapted toengage a shoulder on the control arm lever raising spindle 42.

Referring now to the selector latch 121, the position which this latchoccupies so that the lug 122 thereof is positioned for engagement with adesired one of the abutment surfaces 67 is determined by means of therecord size selector lever 28 which is connected to a shaft whichcarries a size selector control lever beneath the deck plate 11. Thesize selector control lever has a slot in which is engaged a pin carriedon a selector control plate 137 slidably and pivotally mounted above thesub-plate 25 by engagement of a'headed pin 138 in a slot 139. A pin 140is carried by the selector control plate 137 and projects through anaperture 141 in the sub-plate 25 for engagement with a part 136 of theselector latch 121. The selector control plate 137 has a roller-likeelement 142 which can be engaged in one of three notches 143 formed onthe end of the sub-plate 25. A coil tension spring is connected betweenthe plate 137 and the sub-plate 25 to urge the rollerflike element 142into engagement with a desired one of the notches 143.

Thus, by movement of the knob '28 the angular positionof the controllever 134, and hence of the plate 137, may be adjusted whereby the pm140 carried on the control plate 137 is moved towards and away fromlimit rotation of the cut-out latch in a clockwise direction in FIG. 2and hence to locate the cut-out latch 146 in a first position relativeto the selector latch 121 during a normal record playing cycle. Thedownwardly extending abutment portion 150 can also engage with a part152 provided on the cutoff lever 79 when the cutout latch 146 is in asecond position relative to the selector latch 121 during a'fswitch-offcycle of operations.

The cut-off latch 146 has a further downwardly extending lug 153for'engagement with an upwardly extending abutment 134 mouldedintegrally with the drive link 111, as hereinafter to be described inmore detail.

The drive link 111 carries a record feed lever drive peg 154 on itsundersurface and a record feed lever 155 is slidably and pivotallymounted on the base plate ad-.

jacent the underside of the centre spindle, as indicated at 156, tooperate the rocking lever of .the spindle in conventional manner. Alight coil tension spring 157 is provided between the lever 155 and thedeck plate at The feed lever isof two-part construction, comprising amain part 159 and a slider part 160 mounted for I sliding'movementrelative to the main part 159 and engaged with the pin 152. A relativelyheavy coil tension spring is provided between the parts 159 and 160 sothat initially the two parts move together but when the maximum extentof movement of the main part 159 has been reached, continued movement ofthe feed lever drive peg 154 is permitted due to extension of therelatively heavy coil tension spring.

The operation of the record player will now be described during a normalrecord changing cycle after the playing of at least one record andbefore the playing of the last of a stack of records.

The cycle will be described starting from a position in which 'a recordis nearing the end of playing. The parts of the record player being inthe position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. When the record has been played thepick-up of the pick-up head 30 engages in the usual run out track on therecord, causing a rapid inward movement of the pick-up arm 29, thusmoving the wire 72 longitudinally inwardly to operate the conventionalpawl mechanism on the drive gear 45 to engage. the teeth thereof withthe pinion 43 on the turntable, thus starting the gear 45 to rotate in aclockwise direction in FIG. 2.

In order to facilitate description of the record player reference willbe made to various stages of rotation of the drive gear which will bedescribed by the extent of angular rotation of the drive gear 45. Itshould be appreciated, however, that the specified degrees of rotationare merely approximate to facilitate understanding of the operation ofthe record player and they are not the precise degrees of rotation atwhich, in practice, the various stages begin and terminate.

During the first 75 of rotation of the drive gear 45 from the positionshown in FIG. 2 to that shown in FIG. 3 the pick-up arm 29 is raised.This is achieved in the following manner.

As the drive gear 45 rotates the drive link 111 is moved to the left inFIG. 2. It will be appreciated that because the link 11] is slidably andpivotally mounted on the selector control pivot post 113 and ispivotally connected to the drive gear 45 the link moves in the manner ofa crank shaft.

The component of movement of the link 111 to the left causes the ramp124 formed on the underside thereof to engage the shoulder on thehereinbefore described boss 125, thereby causing the end of the transferlever 138 engaged with the post 113 to move downwardly so that the endthereof engaged with the pick-up arm raising spindle 42 is movedupwardly so that the pick-up head 30 is lifted out of engagement withthe record.

The coil compression spring engaged between the end of the transferlever 130 and the selector plate 66 is compressed when the pick-up arm29 is raised, thus exerting a frictional force on the selector plate 66to restrain any tendency for pivotal movement thereof, and hence of thepick-up arm 29, about the vertical spindle Between and of rotation ofthe drive gear 45 from the position shown in-FIG. 3 to that shown inFIG. 4 the pick-up arm 29 is swung outwardly of the record. This isachieved in the following manner.

The cam surface 47 on the drive gear which is in engagement with thedrive pillar 48 on the selector plate drive lever 51 urges the pillar 48in a direction outwardly of the drive gear 45, thus pivoting the lever51 about the pivot post 52. The limb 63 of the fork engages the selectorplate drive peg 65 on the selector plate 66 and pivots the selectorplate in a clockwise direction from the position shown in FIG. 3 to thatshown in FIG. 4, thus swinging the pick-up arm 29 outwardly of therecord.

Because the pivot post 52 is provided in the slot in the drive lever 51if the pick-up arm 29 is manually moved inwardly, thus tending to movethe lever 51 in the direction to move the pillar 48 against the camsurface 47, then such movement is perrnitted as a result of slidingmovement of the lever 51 relative to the post 52 against the bias of thespring 57.

From 140 to 180 of movement of the drive gear 45 from the position shownin FIG. 4 to that shown in FIG. 5 the selector latch 121 is moved intoengagement with the selector plate 66 in order to determine the extentof inward movement of the pick-up arm 29 and, during the latter part ofthis stage, the lowermost record of the stack is dropped into theturntable 13.

The extent of inward movement of the pick-up arm 29 is determined byselection of the appropriate record size with the manual record sizeselector lever 28 which moves the selector control lever so that theelement 142 is engaged in one of the recesses 143, thus determining theposition of the pin l40 for engagement by the abutment part 136 on theselector latch 121. As the pin is moved upwardly in FIG. 5 so the extentof pivotal movement of the selector latch 121 in the direction towardsthe selector plate 66 is reduced and so the positioning of the abutment122 on the selector latch 121 for engagement with an abutment surface 67on the selector plate is spaced further from the axis of rotationthereof, thus permitting progressively further inward movement of thepick-up arm 29.

Movement of the selector latch 121 into position for engagement with theselector plate 66 is achieved by means of engagement of the integral lug114 on the drive link 11 with the downwardly extending peg 116 providedon the selector drive moulding 117 which rotates the selector drivemoulding and thus rotates the selector latch 121 through the spring 118-As explained hereinbefore, the extent of rotation of the selector latch.121 is determined as a result of engagement of the abutment part 141 ofthe latch with the pin 140. When inward movement of theselector latch14] to the extent thus determined is achieved further movement of thedrive link 111 is permitted to occur because of extension of the spring118 as shown in FIG. 5.

As mentioned above, towards the end of this stage of movement the lastrecord of the stack is dropped onto the turntable 13 or onto a recordalready on the tumtable.

This is achieved as a result of the feed lever drive peg 154 on thedrive link 111 moving the feed lever 155 to the left in'FIG. 5 to causethe rocking lever of the centre spindle 12 to be operated to displacethe lowermost record of the stack of records from the shoulder of thecentre spindle and allow it to fall onto the turntable 13 or onto thetop of a record already on the turntable.

The movement of the main part 159 of the feed lever 155 to effectoperation of the rocking lever is completed before movement of the drivepeg 154 in the direction to move the lever to the left in FIG. iscompleted and continued movement of the peg 154 is permitted due to thetwo part construction of the lever, permitting the slide part 160 tocontinue to move due to extension of the spring, as mentionedhereinbefore.

From 180 to 285 of rotation of the drive gear 45 from the position shownin FIG. 5 to that shown in FIG. 6 the pick-up arm 29 is moved inwardlyinto position for lowering onto the start of a record. This is achievedin the following way.

The drive pillar 48 which is maintained in engagement with the camsurface 47 by the spring 54 is permitted to move inwardly as a result ofengagement with a portion of the cam surface 47 which is spaced closerto the axis pivot of the drive gear 45. Thus, the selector plate drivelever 51 is pivoted in a clockwise direction about the pivot post 52under the influence of the spring 54 and thus the limb 64 of the forkengages the peg 65 on the selector plate 66 to pivot the selector plate66 in an anticlockwise direction about its axis of rotation 31, thuspivoting the pick-up arm 29 inwardly of the record. This inward movementcontinues until the abutment 122 on the selector latch 121 engages thepre-determined abutment surface 67 depending upon the extent of movementof the latch 121 as described hereinbefore.

In addition, during this phase of rotary movement of. the drive gear thedrive link 111 starts to move to the right in FIG. 6 but thus far theramps 124 on the underside thereof are not moved sufficiently to theright for the shouldered boss 125 on the selector control pivot post 113to bein engagement therewith.

If the selector plate 66 is not to be moved to its innermost positionthen when the appropriate abutment 67 engages the abutment 122 of thelatch plate 121 further pivotal movement of the selector plate 66, andhence of the drive lever 51, will be prevented and thus the pillar 48will be held out of engagement with the cam surface 47.

From 285 to 305 of rotation of the drive gear 45 from the position shownin FIG. 6 to that shown in FIG. 7 the drive lever 51 is rapidly returnedto its neutral position and the pick-up started to be set down onto arecord.

The first of these movements is achieved in the first two or threedegrees of movement of the drive gear 45 from the position shown in FIG.6 by the pillar 48, being engaged by a portion of the cam surface 47spaced further from the axis of rotation of the drive gear 45 and so thedrive lever 51 is returned rapidly to its neutral position so that thelimbs 63 and 64 of the fork are spaced from the pin 65 on the selectorplate 66 to permit free tracking of the pick-up 29 during playing of therecord. v

The second of the above movements is achieved due to continued movementof the drive link 111 to the right to the position shown in FlG.'7,'causing the ramps 124 on the underside thereof to permit the shoulderedboss 125 provided on the post 113 to move upwardly, thereby causing theend of the transfer lever 126 in the region of the post 113 to moveupwardly so that the end 130 thereof moves downwardly to allow thespindle 42 to move downwardly thereby lowering the pick-up abutment 122thereon out of the path of movement of I the abutments 67 on theselector plate 66 to permit free movement thereof during playing of arecord.

This is achieved as a result of the drive link 111 continuing to move tothe right from the position shown in FIG. 7, so that the integral lug115 thereon engages the pin 116 on the selector latch drive moulding 117and rotates it in a clockwise direction in FIG. 7, to engage the part119 thereof with the lug 123 on the selector latch 121, thus rotatingthe selector latch 121 clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 7rapidly back To its original position, shown in FIG. 2, therebypermitting free movement of the selector plate 66 during tracking of thepick-up arm during playing of a record.

As the drive gear 45 moves up to the 360 position the, pawl mechanism isnot operative, and so the drive gear 45 comes to rest in the regionwhere the teeth are omitted therefrom, and the drive gear 45 is held'inthis position by the notch 50 in the cam surface 47 which is engaged bythe roller 49 on the drive lever 51.

The record is then played and the pick-up arm 29 is thus moved graduallyinwardly until it reaches the end of playing, whereupon it is againmoved rapidly inwardly, causing the wire 72 to again actuate the pawlmechanism to start a further cycle of operations asdedirection, in FIG.2, about its axis, thus pivoting the switch lever 100 to causethe-pick-up arm clamp to open, due to engagement of the lower end 106 ofthe clamp lever 107 thereof with the part. 105a of the cam surface 105,and also to slide the switch slide 92 in the direction to operate theelectric switch 99 to switch on the electric circuit to the recordplayer.

Continued movement of the on/off lever 27 then causes further movementof the switch slide 92 to rotate the cut-off lever 79 about'the pin toengage the arm 88 thereof with the pawl mechanism on the drive gear 45to start the drive gear rotating. The springs and 83 tendto return themechanism but the spring 83 also urges the cut-ofi' lever 79 towards thepin '87 so that the return movement of the mechanism is arrested whenthe detent part 86 engages the pin 87 to afford alatching action for thewhole mechanism. The cycle then proceeds as described hereinbeforeexcept that the movements to raise and to pivot the pick-up arm 29outwardly do not have any effect on the pick-up arm 29, ash is alreadyraised and in an outward position,

The playing of the penultimate record proceeds as described hereinbeforeand the cycle at the end of playing the penultimate record also proceedsas described hereinbefore until the drive gear 45 has moved to the 180position shown in FIG. whereat the last record has just been fed ontothe turntable.

When this occurs, the control arm 32 falls downwardly so that the radialprojection 35 on the vertical spindle 33 thereof engages with the lever36 mounted on the upperside of the sub-plate 25 to cause the lever tomove the trip latch pin 40 upwardly under the bias of the spring 39.

The selector latch member 121 is, at this phase of the cycle, in theposition shown in FIG. 5 so the enlarged head 41 is moved up by thespring 39 until it overlaps and engages the edge of the latch member121. It will be appreciated that in previous cycles the raised positlonof the control arm 32 has maintained the head 41 spaced below theselector latch 121, permitting free movement of the latch 121 above thehead 41.

When the selector latch 121 is moved out of engagement with the selectorplate 66, as described hereinbefore, the trip latch pin 40 moves furtherupwardly under the bias of the spring 39 until its head 141 engages theunderside of the sub-plate 25. The remainder of this cycle of operationsthen continues as described hereinbefore.

When the last record has been played the pick-up arm again moves rapidlyinwardly to cause the wire to operate the pawl mechanism to start a lastrecord changing cycle.

This cycle continues in the normal manner up to the 140 position of thedrive gear.

Continued rotation of the drive gear 45 from this stage to the stageshown in FIG..8 causes the same operations to occur as in a normal cycleexcept that, as the selector latch 121 is swung anti-clockwise as aresult of engagement between the abutment 114 on the drive link 111 andthepin 116 on the selector latch drive moulding 117 the inward movementof the selector latch is arrested by engagement between an edge portion121a thereof and the head 41 of the trip latch pin 40, as shown in FIG.8. The selector latch drive moulding 117 is permitted to continue torotate after arrest of the latch 121 dueto elongation of the spring 118.

During the last part of the 140 to 180 stage of movement of the drivegear 45 the centre spindle is again operated but because there is norecord thereon this movement is redundant.

Just after the 180 stage the abutment 153 of the cutout latch 146 isengaged by the upwardly extending abutment 134 of the drive link 111, asshown in FIG. 8, and the cut-out latch is thereby caused to rotate fromthe first position t0 the second position mentioned hereinbefore.

During the 180 to 285 phase of movement the selector plate drive lever51 is tended to be pivoted in a clockwise direction about the'pin 52 tomove the pickup arm 29 inwardly. However, movement of the drive lever 51in this direction is prevented as a result of engagement between anextension part 51a thereof and a part 1211; of the latch plate 121 (seeFIG. 8) and no drive is communicated to the selector plate 66 and so thepick-up arm 29 is not moved inwardly.

From 285 to 360 the pick-up arm 29 is lowered as described hereinbefore,but because it has not been moved inwardly over the record it is loweredonto the rest. At the same time, the selector latch 121 is pivoted tomove the abutment 122 thereof out of the path of movement of theabutments 67 on the selector plate 66, as described hereinbefore, butbecause the cut-out lever 146 has been moved to the second positiondescribed hereinbefore the lug 150 thereof engages with the part 152 ofthe cut-out lever 79, as shown in Hg. 9, to move it against the bias ofthe spring 83 to disengage the detent 86 and pin 87 to permit thecut-out lever 79 to rotate under the bias of the springs 83 and tooperate the switch 99 to switch off the electric motor 15, to lift thejockey pulley 16 out of engagement with the turntable rim 17 and thestepped spindle of the motor 15 by means of the link 91, and also toclose the clamp of the rest due to engagement of the lower end 1060f theclamp lever 107 with the part b of the cam surface 105.

It should be appreciated that the pick-up arm 29 can be moved manually,at any time, over the whole of its range of movement without damage tothe mechanism. If the pick-up arm 29 is moved whilst the drive lever 51is operative to move the pick-up arm 29 inwardly or outwardly thenmovement of the pick-up arm manually outwardly will cause pivoting ofthe lever 51 about the post 52 against the bias of the spring 54 to liftthe pillar 48 off the cam surface 47. Alternatively, if the pick-up arm29 is pivoted inwardly then the lever 51 will slide laterally as aresult of movement of the post 52 within the slot 53 against the bias ofthe spring 57.

At all other times the lever 51 will be in its neutral position andmovement of the pick-up arm over its whole range of movement ispermitted because of the spacing between the limbs 63 and 64:

By spacing the lower end of the pick-up arm vertical spindle 31 and thepick-up arm raising spindle 42 from the selector control pivot post 113and providing the transfer lever 26 for raising and lowering the pick-uparm the lower end of the pick-up arm vertical spindle 17 is relativeunobstructed thereby facilitating the provision of ancillary equipmentsuch as, the viscous setdown device and the anti-skate device indicatedgenerally at 161 and 162 respectively in FIG. 2.

The switch off mechanism described above prevents any damage to themechanism of the on/off lever. 27 obstructed during automatic switchoff,

I claim:

1. An automatic record player for playing disc records of differentsizes comrprising a deck plate, a turntable rotatably mounted on thedeck plate and driven, in use, by an electric motor, a centre spindleextending upwardly from the centre of the turntable and from whichrecords are fed singly in succession from the bot tom of the stack ontothe turntable, a pick-up arm,- pivotally mounted for movement about ahorizontal axis on the upper end of a vertical spindle, the verticalspindle being pivotally mounted for movement about a vertical axisrelative to the deck plate, a drive gear rotatably mounted on the deckplate, and means for rotating the drive gear during a record changingcycle, a drivelever, having a first end and a second end, movablymounted on the deck plate, said first end being drivingly connected tothe drive gear and said second end being drivingly connected to thevertical spindle to pivot the pick-uparm' outwardly and inwardly of theturntable as a resultof movement of the drive lever caused by rotationof the drive gear, a selector plate provided on the vertical spindle forrotation therewith, the selector plate having a plurality of abutmentsangularly spaced apart around the axis of the vertical spindle, aselector latch movable from a first position in which free movement ofthe selector plate is permitted into a second position for engagementwith a desired one of the abutments to limit pivotal movement of theselector plate, the position of the selector latch being adjustable sothat it is in a position to engage the appropriate one of the abutmentscorresponding to the size of record to be played and to thus halt theinward movement of the pick-up arm in the correct position for the sizeof record to be played, a drive link, separate from the drive lever, oneend of the drive link being pivotally connected to the drive gear, aboutan axis spaced from, and parallel to, the axis of rotation of the drivegear, the other end of the drive link being mounted relative to the deckplate for sliding movement relative thereto and for pivotal movementabout an axis, spaced rmmaha parallelto, the axis of rotation of thedrive gear as a result of rotation of the drive gear, the drive linkbeing operative to raise and lower the pick-up arm on movement of thedrive link resulting from rotation of the drive gear, and selector latchdrive means being provided on the drive link to move the selector latchbetween said first and second positions.

2. A record player as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drive means to movethe selector latch into said second position comprises a lost motiondevice to permit continued movement of the drive link after the selectorlatch has been moved into said second position.

3. A record player as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lost motion deviceincludes a spring means which communicates drive from the drive link tothe selector latch cycle at the end of the playing the last record saidcutout latch is in position for engagement with the abutment portion sothat movement of the drive link displaces the cut-out latch so that aportion thereof is moved into position for engagement with an element ina switch-off mechanism of the record player, to switch off the recordplayer when the selector latch is moved to said first position.

5. A record player as claimed in claim 4, wherein said means to positionthe selector latch in a third position includes a trip element movablebetweeen a first posi-.

tion, occupied during a penultimate, or preceding, record changing cyclein which a penultimate record is fed to the turntable to permit theselector latch to move between said first and second position, and asecond position, occupied during the last record changing cycle, toposition the selector latch in said third position.

6. A record player as claimed in claim 5, wherein said trip element ismoved between said first and second po-' sitions during a penultimaterecord changing cycle in which a last record is fed to the turntable, bymeans operated by a record steady arm, the trip element being maintainedin said first position when the record steady arm is maintained in araised position due to engagement of a record on the centre spindle, andthe trip element being permitted to move towards said second positionwhen the record steady arm is moved to a lowered position when the lastrecord is fed onto the turntable during said penultimate cycle. i

7. A record player as claimed in claim 6, wherein when the trip elementis permitted to move towards said second position the selector latch isin said second position and the trip element engages with a part of theselector latch so that movement of the trip element to said secondposition is not completed until the selector latch is moved to saidfirst position during said penultimate record changing cycle.

8. A record player as claimed in claim 1 wherein theother end of thedrive link is mounted for rectilinear sliding movement relative to thedeck plate.

9. A record player as claimed in claim 1 wherein the other end of thedrive link is pivotally and slidably mounted relative to the deck plateat a position space from the pick-up arm vertical spindle.

10. A record player as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that thedrive link is provided .with cam means whereby movement of the linkrelative to the deck plate in the longitudinal direction of the linkcauses movement of a cam follower as a result of engagement thereof withthe cam means, said cam follower being connected to a pick-up armraising spindle whereby the pick-uparm is raised and lowered.

11. A record player as claimed in claim 10, wherein the cam means causesmovement of the cam follower in a direction normal to the plane of thebase plate.

12. A record player as claimed in claim 10 wherein a transfer lever ispivotally mounted on the deck plate at a position intermediate the endsthereof, said cam follower acting on the transfer lever adjacent oneend, and the other end of the transfer lever being connected tothe saidpick-up arm raising spindle.

13. A record player as claimed in claim 12 wherein the transfer lever ismounted relative to the deck plate so that the transfer lever may bemoved in a direction downwardly relative to the deck plate againstresilient biasing means in the event of an overload being applied to thepick-up arm raising spindle. I

v 14. A record player as claimed in claim 13 wherein the transfer leveris mounted ona downwar'dlydepending post there being a coil compressionspring engaged around the post between the'unde'rside of the transferlever and an abutment on the post. V e

1. An automatic record player for playing disc records of differentsizes comrprising a deck plate, a turntable rotatably mounted on thedeck plate and driven, in use, by an electric motor, a centre spindleextending upwardly from the centre of the turntable and from whichrecords are fed singly in succession from the bottom of the stack ontothe turntable, a pick-up arm, pivotally mounted for movement about ahorizontal axis on the upper end of a vertical spindle, the verticalspindle being pivotally mounted for movement about a vertical axisrelative to the deck plate, a drive gear rotatably mounted on the deckplate, and means for rotating the drive gear during a record changingcycle, a drive lever, having a first end and a second end, movablymounted on the deck plate, said first end being drivingly connected tothe drive gear and said second end being drivingly connected to thevertical spindle to pivot the pick-up arm outwardly and inwardly of theturntable as a result of movement of the drive lever caused by rotationof the drive gear, a selector plate provided on the vertical spindle forrotation therewith, the selector plate having a plurality of abutmentsangularly spaced apart around the axis of the vertical spindle, aselector latch movable from a first position in which free movement ofthe selector plate is permitted into a second position for engagementwith a desired one of the abutments to limit pivotal movement of theselector plate, the position of the selector latch being adjustable sothat it is in a position to engage the appropriate one of the abutmentscorresponding to the size of record to be played and to thus halt theinward movement of the pick-up arm in the correct position for the sizeof record to be played, a drive link, separate from the drive lever, oneend of the drive link being pivotally connected to the drive gear, aboutan axis spaced from, and parallel to, the axis of rotation of the drivegear, the other end of the drive link being mounted relative to the deckplate for sliding movement relative thereto and for pivotal movementabout an axis, spaced from, and parallel tO, the axis of rotation of thedrive gear as a result of rotation of the drive gear, the drive linkbeing operative to raise and lower the pick-up arm on movement of thedrive link resulting from rotation of the drive gear, and selector latchdrive means being provided on the drive link to move the selector latchbetween said first and second positions.
 2. A record player as claimedin claim 1 wherein the drive means to move the selector latch into saidsecond position comprises a lost motion device to permit continuedmovement of the drive link after the selector latch has been moved intosaid second position.
 3. A record player as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe lost motion device includes a spring means which communicates drivefrom the drive link to the selector latch to move the selector latchinto said second position, and which is stressed to permit continuedmovement of the drive link when movement of the selector latch isarrested.
 4. A record player as claimed in claim 1 wherein a cut-outlatch is mounted on the selector latch for movement relative thereto, anabutment portion provided on the drive link means to position theselector latch in a third position so that during a last record changingcycle at the end of the playing the last record said cut-out latch is inposition for engagement with the abutment portion so that movement ofthe drive link displaces the cut-out latch so that a portion thereof ismoved into position for engagement with an element in a switch-offmechanism of the record player, to switch off the record player when theselector latch is moved to said first position.
 5. A record player asclaimed in claim 4, wherein said means to position the selector latch ina third position includes a trip element movable betweeen a firstposition, occupied during a penultimate, or preceding, record changingcycle in which a penultimate record is fed to the turntable to permitthe selector latch to move between said first and second position, and asecond position, occupied during the last record changing cycle, toposition the selector latch in said third position.
 6. A record playeras claimed in claim 5, wherein said trip element is moved between saidfirst and second positions during a penultimate record changing cycle inwhich a last record is fed to the turntable, by means operated by arecord steady arm, the trip element being maintained in said firstposition when the record steady arm is maintained in a raised positiondue to engagement of a record on the centre spindle, and the tripelement being permitted to move towards said second position when therecord steady arm is moved to a lowered position when the last record isfed onto the turntable during said penultimate cycle.
 7. A record playeras claimed in claim 6, wherein when the trip element is permitted tomove towards said second position the selector latch is in said secondposition and the trip element engages with a part of the selector latchso that movement of the trip element to said second positIon is notcompleted until the selector latch is moved to said first positionduring said penultimate record changing cycle.
 8. A record player asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the other end of the drive link is mountedfor rectilinear sliding movement relative to the deck plate.
 9. A recordplayer as claimed in claim 1 wherein the other end of the drive link ispivotally and slidably mounted relative to the deck plate at a positionspaced from the pick-up arm vertical spindle.
 10. A record player asclaimed in claim 1 characterised in that the drive link is provided withcam means whereby movement of the link relative to the deck plate in thelongitudinal direction of the link causes movement of a cam follower asa result of engagement thereof with the cam means, said cam followerbeing connected to a pick-up arm raising spindle whereby the pick-up armis raised and lowered.
 11. A record player as claimed in claim 10,wherein the cam means causes movement of the cam follower in a directionnormal to the plane of the base plate.
 12. A record player as claimed inclaim 10 wherein a transfer lever is pivotally mounted on the deck plateat a position intermediate the ends thereof, said cam follower acting onthe transfer lever adjacent one end, and the other end of the transferlever being connected to the said pick-up arm raising spindle.
 13. Arecord player as claimed in claim 12 wherein the transfer lever ismounted relative to the deck plate so that the transfer lever may bemoved in a direction downwardly relative to the deck plate agaiNstresilient biasing means in the event of an overload being applied to thepick-up arm raising spindle.
 14. A record player as claimed in claim 13wherein the transfer lever is mounted on a downwardly depending postthere being a coil compression spring engaged around the post betweenthe underside of the transfer lever and an abutment on the post.